The Air Force has announced steep cuts to re-enlistment bonuses and retraining opportunities as budget cuts force the service to get smaller.
In this week’s Air Force Times, we explain who is getting a re-enlistment bonus and who isn’t as well as which career fields are no longer on the retraining list. In the next few weeks, even more bad news may be coming.
Also this week: the Air Force recently selected about 1,000 staff sergeants for special duties out of an eligibility pool of roughly 7,500 nominees. You can read the five things you need to know about special duties now that they are mandatory.
In other news, two senators are pushing the Air Force to review the safety of ejection seats following the death of Capt. Lucas Gruenther, who was killed in January while punching out of his F-16.
Meanwhile, F-15 fighters from RAF Lakenheath, England, are taking part in a two-week exercise in Israel that involves about 60 fighters total. The exercise has been named Blue Flag, which is Israel’s version of Red Flag.
And 113 retired Air Force general officers have signed a letter opposing a Senate bill that would put military prosecutors instead of commanders in charge of deciding whether to pursue courts-martial for sex assaults and other serious offenses.
